Leon Landry
Rumors

Unfortunately for teams, scouts, players and fans of baseball's amateur draft, the College World Series does not conclude until after June 7th draft.  However, we will be treated to a number of fun match ups this weekend in the College World Series Regionals.  Here's a look at some fun match-ups and top players to watch, broken down by region.

Tempe Region

If the higher teams advance, #1 Arizona State will face #2 San Diego.  That means Arizona State will face either Sammy Solis or Kyle Blair from San Diego.  Seth Blair will throw for Arizona State, but likely in their opening game against Milwaukee

Fayetteville Region

Top seeded Arkansas sports a likely Top 10 pick, Zack Cox, a likely first day pick, Brett Eibner, and a likely second round pick, Andy Wilkins.  Those three will dominate the conversation in this region

Auburn Region

Jimmy Nelson from Auburn faces off against Todd Cunningham from Jacksonville State in the opening round game.  Both could be Day 2 picks.  Other Day 2 picks include Auburn second baseman Brian Fletcher and first baseman Hunter Morris.

Atlanta Region

Possible Top 5 pick Deck McGuire and possible Day 1 pick Derek Dietrich will pace the Georgia Tech yellow jackets while Josh Rutledge hopes to keep Alabama's title hopes alive.

Charlottesville Region

Virginia is one of the best teams in the country and is headed by draft prospect Jarrett Parker.  Mississippi has possibly the top college pitcher in the country in Drew Pomeranz, someone expected to go in the Top 5.  St. John's sports a possible Day 2 pick, Daniel Burawa.

Norman Region

UNC's Matt Harvey seems likely to go in the first round while California's Dixon Anderson figures to be in the mix on Day 2.

Columbia Region

Pitching prospect Sam Dyson leads the top seeded South Carolina Gamecocks.  Likely first round picks Austin Wates and Asher Wojciechowksi lead Virginia Tech and The Citadel, respectively.

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Let's take a look at how the top prospects for the 2010 draft fared this past Saturday.

Below is a recap of their performances from Friday night compiled from reports by Jason Churchill at espn.com, Baseball America and media reports from various athletic departments.

• Virginia Tech's Jesse Hahn struggled against Jarrett Parker and the top ranked Virginia Cavaliers.  Parker went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, contributing to Hahn's difficult pitching line: 6.1IP, 7H, 3BB and 5ER.  Fortunately, Hahn did strikeout ten batters. 
• Two of UCLAs best pitchers, Rob Rasmussen and Dan Klein combined to defeat Oregon State.  Rasmussen yielded just four hits and two walks in 6.1IP while giving up no runs and striking out six.  Klein was a little erratic giving up a hit and walk in 1.2IP, but also didn't allow a run for his seventh save.
• Texas's Brandon Workman went the distance in a 8-0 win over Texas A&M.  Over his nine innings, he threw 116 pitches giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out eight.  Kevin Keyes's three-run home run was more than enough support for Workman.

• Kyle Parker from Clemson went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double to run his hitting stats to .365/.491/.730 in 34 games.
• Leon Landry from LSU went 3-for-6 to improve his hitting line to .364/.442/.553 on the season.

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A potential Top 5 draft pick, LSU's Anthony Ranaudo pitched for the first time since February 19th recently and looked solid in his return.  Ranaudo had missed five weeks of the season due to a stress reaction in his throwing elbow and his coach, Paul Mainieri, was extremely cautious with bringing his ace pitcher back.

"The biggest development of the day was the performance of Anthony Ranaudo," Mainieri said. "He felt great and pitched without pain, and he hit 93 (mph) with his fastball. We'll continue to monitor his progress, but I was very pleased with his outing today."

Ranaudo threw two scoreless innings and displayed good velocity and control.

Once considered a threat to Bryce Harper for the #1 overall pick of the upcoming 2010 MLB draft, Ranaudo is unlikely to go that high due to potential health concerns.  However, he remains a Top 5 talent and could still wind up with Pittsburgh at #2 if he can demonstrate an ability to consistently go seven innings throughout the remainder of the season. 

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Though power hitters always get the publicity, a handful of high on-base percentage speedsters that are likely to be first-day picks in the 2010 draft could prove to be lead off hitters professionally.

Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton: He needs to improve his walk rate, but is incredibly fast and runs a sub-4.0 to first base. 

Tyler Holt, Florida State: As fast as Brown, but with much better discipline at the plate. 

Tyler Holt is speedy player with good plate discipline

Leon Landry, LSU: Another above-average runner, Landry has better power than Holt or Brown.  He's a nice, intriguing talent," said an American League scout. "He runs, and brings some punch to the plate. I like the way he plays the game, and he might fit at the top of the lineup with his patience and plate skills."

Austin Wates, Virginia Tech: Impressed scouts this summer in the Cape Cod league and is considered the best overall prospect of the group.  "If you want a bat for the top of your lineup, he might be the best guy for that job," said one scout. "He might be able to drive in runs for you, though."

Plenty of baseball action this past Saturday, Mar 6.  Let's take a look at the highlights from the draft prospects:

• Jedd Gyorko continues to hit.  His numbers are up to 361/452/639 with six walks vs. four strikeouts in his first nine games.
• Houston's Michael Goodnight out dueled Texas's Brandon Workman in a 1-0 win for the Cougars.  Despite walking four hitters, Goodnight struck out nine over 7IP and allowed just two hits.  Workman was equally as impressive, yielding just a walk, four hits and one earned run over 8IP with seven strikeouts.
• Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon continues to struggle going 0-for-5 against Arizona.  The shortstop is hitting 194/310/306 through the first nine games of the season.  After having a 971 OPS last year, no one expects his struggles to continue long, but the lapse allows other shortstops like Josh Rutledge to close the gap on draft boards.

Christian Colon needs to snap out of his funk soon

• Alabama's Jimmy Nelson fanned eleven batters over six innings without giving up a walk.  Though considered a second-day pick heading into the season, he has a 19-1 K/BB ratio over the first 16 innings of his season and is moving up draft boards.

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Here's a review of on-field hitting performances by notable 2010 draft prospects for February 28th through March 5th.

Tyler Holt: The outfielder from Florida State walked twice, stole his second base and scored against Hofstra on 2/28.  Holt finally struck out on 3/2, three times, but also added two hits.

Cameron Rupp: Texas' first baseman had a single and a walk vs. Stanford on 2/28 to raise his numbers to .364/.533/.455.  Cameron finally hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday.

Micah Gibbs: The LSU catcher hit a double and three singles, walked, had a RBI and stole a base in Sunday's Game 1 win over William & Mary.  Went 0-fer in Game 2.

Micah Gibbs

Leon Landry: Gibbs' outfield teammate at LSU went 3-for-7 in the double header with five stolen bases on the day. 

Andy Wilkins: Arkansas' first baseman had two hits prompting a scout to say "I learned...this weekend [that] Wilkins can hit."  On Tuesday, Wilkins had two doubles in three at-bats, raising his batting average to .435.  On Friday, Wilkins went 2-for-4 with a homerun against Cal.

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Pepperdine's Cole Cook had a successful outing recently against the #2 team in the country, LSU. Although Cook took the loss, dropping his record to 0-2 on the season, and yielded three earned runs, he still threw effectively.  Cook's line was very respectable 7IP, 7H, 1BB, 3ER and 9K - especially against one of the top teams in the country.

Cole has been known to struggle maintaining his velocity late into games, but his last pitch was a 92 mph fastball, not much of a dip from where he threw all day.  His fastest pitch was recorded at 94.  "Better, I'd say, and maybe that's a matter of how early in the season it was for him," an NL club's area scout said.

Pepperdine's Cole Cook had a solid outing against #2 LSU

"He was aggressive," the scout said. "This was a nice test and he didn't back down. I had him in the low-90s for much of the game, and by my count his last fastball there (in the seventh inning) was 92. But the key for him was the split, it was very effective. And he was much better at avoid the middle of the plate, and for the most part kept the ball in the lower half of the zone."

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Jason Churchill of espn.com continues his review of the opening weekend of D1 college baseball play.  For more on opening weekend, click here.

• After struggling in 2009 and falling to the 10th round, Sam Dyson from South Carolina started out 2010 on a high note striking out six in 3.2IP with just one walk and no hits.  Most importantly was that it only took Dyson 48 pitches to get the eleven outs.  Dyson struggled with high pitch counts in 2009.
• Leon Landry will need a big spring to get into the first round, but had a good start going 1-for-3 with a double in LSU's opening win.
• Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon went 0-for-4, struggling against Pepperdine's Matt Bywater who threw a complete game shutout with 10 Ks, two walks and four hits.  Churchill feels that Bywater's questionable velocity does not make him a first-day draft consideration.

Christian Colon struggled in his season debut

• In his first two games Tyler Holt from Florida State reached base five times and is solidifying himself as a viable leadoff-type hitter.  He is very fast and had a great BB-K ratio in 2009: 54-47.
• Bryce Brentz from Middle Tennessee State was 2-for-5 in his debut. 
• Another top collegiate bat, Zack Cox, went 1-for-5 for Arkansas against Ball State.  Kolbrin Vitek an intriguing prospect from Ball State had three singles and a triple against Arkansas.
• Miami's Yasmani Grandal was 1-for-3 with 2BB against Rutgers, but his teammates Chris Hernandez and David Gutierrez really impressed.  Hernandez struck out five batters in four innings while Gutierrez struck out the side in the ninth.

Yasmani Grandal's teammates overshadowed his opening performance

• Kyle Blair struggled in his debut, inconveniently in front of espn.com's Keith Law.  Despite eight strikeouts, Blair walked four in four innings against a moderate Indiana lineup.
• Similar to Blair, Brandon Workman of Texas also struggled, but didn't get much help from his defense.  Workman allowed nine hits and three earned runs in six innings, but did have seven strikeouts.

Jason Churchill of espn.com recently took a look at the top collegiate players that could end up first-round draft picks when MLB amateur draft gets started in June. 

• Ranked #2 on Keith Law's Top 50 draft prospects, Anthony Ranaudo is an obvious choice for the first round.  His LSU teammates, Micah Gibbs and Leon Landry are less likely.
• Arkansas teammates Zack Cox and Andy Wilkins are both considered first-round possibilities, but teammates Brett Eibner struggled in 2009 and would need a good 2010 to move up draft boards.
• The SEC is loaded with the names listed above and Drew Pomeranz from Ole Miss and Justin Grimm from Georgia, both who could go in the first round.  Kentucky's James Paxton is also a first round possibility after being drafted by the Blue Jays in the first round in 2009, but choosing not to sign.  He is currently ineligible to play, but fighting the charges, based on alleged violations of his amateur status.
• From the Big 12, Brandon Workman and Sam Dyson figure to go in the first round.

Brandon Workman figures to be a first round pick come June

• Alex Wimmers from Ohio State figures to be the lone Big 10 player taken in the first round.  Same for Dixon Anderson out of the Pac-10.
• The ACC is not as loaded as the SEC, but could put four names in the first round: Deck McGuire (Georgia Tech), Jarrett Parker (Virigina), Yasmani Grandal (Miami) and Matt Harvey (UNC).
• Bryce Brentz from Middle Tennessee State and Austin Wates from Virginia Tech figure to be two outfielders who could go in the first round.
• Christian Colon (Cal State Fullerton) might not have the speed that scouts want, but he's still a consideration in the first round. 

USA Baseball released its 50-player watch list for the 2010 Golden Spikes Award given to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.  On June 1st, 2010, the watch list will be reduced to the 30 official nominations for additional consideration.  Voters will be asked to nominate five players from the list and the five finalists for the award will be announced on June 8th, 2010.  Additional voting will take place on the 8th and a winner will be announced.  Interestingly, June 8th, 2010 is also the day after the first day of Major League Baseball's amateur draft.  The winner will not be announced until July 13th, 2010.

Six players on the 2010 watch list were semi-finalists in 2009: Bryce Brentz, Alex Wimmers, Deck McGuire, Anthony Rendon, Addison Reed and Daniel Bibona.

A semi-finalist in 2009, Alex Wimmers has made the 2010 Golden Spikes Award Watch List

Bryce Harper from the College of Southern Nevada is the only junior college player to make list.  A junior college player has won the award just once, Alex Fernandez in 1990.

LSU leads all colleges with four players nominated (Blake Dean, Micah Gibbs, Leon Landry and Anthony Ranaudo) while Texas has three (Chad Bettis, Taylor Jungmann and Brandon Workman), and Alabama, Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech, University of Miami, Rice and Virginia have two apiece.